Have you ever wondered why we hiccup? It’s a curious thing our bodies do, and sometimes it can be quite annoying! Let’s dive into the world of hiccups and explore what causes them and why they might happen.
Did you know that some people have had hiccups for a really long time? Charles Osborne started hiccuping in 1922 after a hog fell on him, and he kept hiccuping for 68 years! That’s a world record for the longest hiccup spell. On the other hand, Jennifer Meemay, a teenager from Florida, holds the record for the most frequent hiccups, with 50 hiccups per minute for over four weeks in 2007.
Doctors say that hiccups often happen after we do things that stretch our stomachs, like swallowing air or eating and drinking too quickly. Sometimes, intense emotions like laughing, crying, or feeling anxious can also trigger hiccups.
When we hiccup, it starts with an involuntary spasm or sudden contraction of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a large, dome-shaped muscle below our lungs that helps us breathe. This spasm is followed by the sudden closure of the vocal cords and the opening between them, known as the glottis. This movement causes a quick intake of air, but the closure of the vocal cords stops the air from reaching the lungs, creating the “hic” sound we all recognize.
Interestingly, scientists haven’t found a clear purpose for hiccups. They don’t seem to offer any medical or physiological benefits. This makes researchers wonder if hiccups are just a leftover from our evolutionary past. Could they have once served a purpose that we haven’t discovered yet?
One theory suggests that hiccups date back millions of years before humans existed. Early fish, which lived in water with low oxygen levels, might have developed lungs to breathe air. As these creatures evolved and moved onto land, they transitioned from using gills to breathing with lungs. This is similar to how frogs change from tadpoles with gills to adults with lungs. The hiccup might be a relic of this ancient transition, helping move water over gills and then quickly closing the glottis to prevent water from entering the lungs.
Some scientists believe that hiccups have been retained in mammals because they offer an advantage. Hiccups are found only in mammals, not in birds, lizards, or turtles. Interestingly, human babies hiccup even before they are born, and infants hiccup more often than adults. This might be because the hiccup reflex helps remove air from the stomach during nursing, preventing milk from entering the lungs.
When hiccups just won’t stop, people try all sorts of home remedies. Some sip cold water, hold their breath, eat a spoonful of honey or peanut butter, breathe into a paper bag, or even try to get a good scare. However, scientists haven’t found a surefire cure that works better than others. But one thing is for sure: there’s no guaranteed way to stop hiccups every time.
Keep a diary for a week, noting down each time you get hiccups. Record what you were doing before they started, how long they lasted, and any remedies you tried. At the end of the week, analyze your diary to see if you can identify any patterns or triggers for your hiccups.
Choose one of the famous hiccup records mentioned in the article, like Charles Osborne or Jennifer Meemay. Research more about their stories and present your findings to the class. Discuss what you found most surprising or interesting about their experiences.
Create a simple model of the diaphragm using materials like balloons and rubber bands. Use your model to demonstrate how the diaphragm works during breathing and what happens during a hiccup. Explain the process to your classmates.
Form two groups and debate the evolutionary theory of hiccups. One group will argue that hiccups are an evolutionary relic with no current purpose, while the other group will argue that they serve a beneficial role in mammals. Use evidence from the article and additional research to support your arguments.
Try out different home remedies for stopping hiccups, such as sipping cold water or holding your breath. Record which methods you try and their effectiveness. Share your results with the class and discuss why some methods might work better than others.
Charles Osborne began to hiccup in 1922 after a hog fell on top of him. He wasn’t cured until 68 years later and is now listed by Guinness as the world record holder for hiccup longevity. Meanwhile, Florida teen Jennifer Meemay holds the record for the most frequent hiccups, occurring 50 times per minute for more than four weeks in 2007.
So, what causes hiccups? Doctors point out that a round of hiccups often follows stimuli that stretch the stomach, such as swallowing air or eating or drinking too quickly. Others associate hiccups with intense emotions or responses to them, like laughing, sobbing, anxiety, and excitement.
Let’s look at what happens when we hiccup. It begins with an involuntary spasm or sudden contraction of the diaphragm, the large dome-shaped muscle below our lungs that we use to inhale air. This is followed almost immediately by the sudden closure of the vocal cords and the opening between them, known as the glottis. The movement of the diaphragm initiates a sudden intake of air, but the closure of the vocal cords stops it from entering the windpipe and reaching the lungs. This also creates the characteristic sound: “hic.”
To date, there is no known function for hiccups. They don’t seem to provide any medical or physiological advantage. Why begin to inhale air only to suddenly stop it from actually entering the lungs? Anatomical structures or physiological mechanisms with no apparent purpose present challenges to evolutionary biologists. Do such structures serve some hidden function that hasn’t yet been discovered? Or are they relics of our evolutionary past, having once served some important purpose only to persist into the present as vestigial remnants?
One idea is that hiccups began many millions of years before the appearance of humans. The lung is thought to have evolved as a structure to allow early fish, many of which lived in warm, stagnant water with little oxygen, to take advantage of the abundant oxygen in the air overhead. When descendants of these animals later moved onto land, they transitioned from gill-based ventilation to air-breathing with lungs. This is similar to the rapid changes faced by frogs today as they transition from tadpoles with gills to adults with lungs. This hypothesis suggests that the hiccup is a relic of the ancient transition from water to land—an inhalation that could move water over gills followed by a rapid closure of the glottis preventing water from entering the lungs.
Evidence suggests that the neural patterning involved in generating a hiccup is almost identical to that responsible for respiration in amphibians. Another group of scientists believes that the reflex is retained in us today because it actually provides an important advantage. They point out that true hiccups are found only in mammals and are not present in birds, lizards, turtles, or any other exclusively air-breathing animals. Furthermore, hiccups appear in human babies long before birth and are far more common in infants than in adults. Their explanation for this involves the uniquely mammalian activity of nursing. The ancient hiccup reflex may have been adapted by mammals to help remove air from the stomach as a sort of glorified burp. The sudden expansion of the diaphragm would raise air from the stomach, while a closure of the glottis would prevent milk from entering the lungs.
Sometimes, a bout of hiccups will go on and on, and we try home remedies such as sipping continuously from a glass of cold water, holding one’s breath, taking a mouthful of honey or peanut butter, breathing into a paper bag, or being suddenly frightened. Unfortunately, scientists have yet to verify that any one cure works better or more consistently than others. However, we do know one thing that definitely doesn’t work.
Hiccup – A sudden, involuntary contraction of the diaphragm muscle followed by a quick closure of the vocal cords, producing a characteristic sound. – During the biology class, we learned that a hiccup is caused by an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm.
Diaphragm – A dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs that plays a crucial role in breathing by contracting and relaxing to allow air into the lungs. – The diaphragm is essential for respiration, as it helps expand the lungs to take in oxygen.
Spasm – An involuntary and sudden contraction of a muscle or group of muscles, often causing discomfort or pain. – The biology teacher explained that a muscle spasm can occur when the body is dehydrated or fatigued.
Vocal – Relating to the voice or the production of sound through the vocal cords. – In science class, we discussed how the vocal cords vibrate to produce sound when we speak or sing.
Glottis – The part of the larynx consisting of the vocal cords and the opening between them, which plays a key role in producing sound. – The glottis opens and closes rapidly to create different pitches and tones in our voice.
Evolution – The process by which different kinds of living organisms develop and diversify from earlier forms over generations through natural selection. – Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how species adapt to their environments over time.
Mammals – A class of warm-blooded vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of mammary glands, hair or fur, and three middle ear bones. – Humans, whales, and bats are all examples of mammals, sharing common characteristics like warm-bloodedness and live births.
Oxygen – A chemical element that is essential for respiration in most living organisms and is a major component of the Earth’s atmosphere. – Plants release oxygen into the air as a byproduct of photosynthesis, which is crucial for animal life.
Reflex – An automatic and rapid response to a stimulus that does not involve conscious thought, often to protect the body from harm. – The knee-jerk reflex is a common example studied in biology to understand how the nervous system works.
Scientists – Individuals who conduct research and experiments to advance knowledge in various fields of science, including biology, chemistry, and physics. – Scientists use the scientific method to test hypotheses and make discoveries about the natural world.
